RABBI Wagensberg: PARSHAS PINCHAS: Life Begins at 50 | The Jewish Press - JewishPress com | Rabbi Aba Wagensberg | 22 Tammuz 5781 – July 2, 2021 jewishpress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jewishpress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hungarian Jews on vacation in Marienbad, the Czech spa town near the border with Germany (public domain)
More than a century ago, Jewish doctors were prescribing “solitary walks in the forest” and Bohemian spring water to their patients. Ready to meet the onslaught of largely Yiddish-speaking tourists was Marienbad, one of three Czech spa towns with seasonal Jewish influxes.
Surrounded by dozens of springs with high-mineral content, Marienbad was where great Torah scholars from Poland rubbed elbows with Britain’s King Edward VII and Sigmund Freud. Festooned with elaborate fountains, promenades, and meeting halls, the town was perfect for conventions and conferences.
In a matter of seconds, the greatest simchah in the chassidus turned into unfathomable devastation
The tish that took place right before the start of Shavuos was supposed to be the climax of Karlin-Stolin’s exponential growth in both Eretz Yisrael and abroad a chanukas habayis of the mammoth shul they’ve been talking about for decades that could comfortably accommodate the thousands who regularly flock to the Rebbe in the Jerusalem suburb of Givat Ze ev. With COVID on the wane, it was the first time the bulk of the chassidus gathered together without face masks since Purim of the previous year.
Photo Credit: Yossi Zeliger / Flash 90
One of the major topics in this week’s parsha, Parshas Emor, is the discussion about the various Jewish holidays (Parshas Emor, 23:1-44). As such, we will take the liberty of talking about a holiday of sorts which falls out this year (5781) on Thursday night â Friday, Erev Parshas Emor, which celebrates the Rashbâi (Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai. This day is known as Lag Bâomer. It is also called âHillula dâRashbâi (the celebration of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai) on account of Rebbi Shimonâs accomplishments and contributions to the Jewish people.
The famous story about the Rashbâi (Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai) is found in Meseches Shabbos (chap. 2, âBameh Madlikinâ, pg. 33b). The Talmudic page number (33) is not arbitrary as it alludes to the 33rd day of the Omer on which we celebrate the life and contributions of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai.
There is the fire of the bush, blazing, yet somehow, not consuming.
There is the fire of the pillar, which illuminates our path so that we may travel by day, and by night.
There is the violent, trembling fire of the mountain from which G-d descends from the Heavens to be heard by us.
And there is the fire through which G-d responds, and is identified as the one true G-d by us.
It is through fire, Rashi tells us, that the Law of G-d was written.
There is the perpetual fire,
Esh Tamid, eternally burning on its altar, inextinguishable. A fire which cleanses us of sin – both intentional and unintentional – and thus extinguishes our transgressions.